DPLA Catalog MCP

An MCP server for searching the Digital Public Library of America for genealogy and history. It searches descriptions of digitized items from US libraries and archives, providing holding institution records, citations, and page images via IIIF manifests. It is read-only and does not write data or maintain family trees.

Package and access

Local package with source-attributed installation metadata. Koskamo does not execute packages during review.

Community listingLocal stdioSource reviewed; not executedPublished by ianderso

Vendor documentation

What you can do with it

Search for genealogy and historical records
Retrieve holding institution records and citations
List page images from IIIF manifests

Source and maintenance

Community listingRegistry 0.1.1

mcp-registry: io.github.ianderso/dpla-catalog-mcp@0.1.1 Source repository

Maintenance checked: Nov 1, 2026, 5:02 AM UTC

Packages and installation

Source-provided package data. Koskamo has not executed or live-probed this package.

dpla-catalog-mcp 0.1.1

pypiuvx

dpla-catalog-mcp package definition

{
  "version": "0.1.1",
  "transport": "stdio",
  "identifier": "dpla-catalog-mcp",
  "runtimeHint": "uvx",
  "registryType": "pypi",
  "registryBaseUrl": "https://pypi.org",
  "environmentVariables": [
    {
      "name": "DPLA_API_KEY",
      "isRequired": true,
      "description": "Your DPLA API key: 32 letters, digits or hyphens. Free; request it with POST https://api.dp.la/v2/api_key/YOUR_EMAIL and it arrives by email."
    },
    {
      "name": "DPLA_CACHE_DIR",
      "default": "~/.cache/dpla-catalog-mcp",
      "description": "Directory for the on-disk response cache."
    },
    {
      "name": "DPLA_TIMEOUT",
      "default": "30",
      "description": "HTTP timeout in seconds."
    },
    {
      "name": "DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL",
      "default": "0.25",
      "description": "Least seconds between the start of one request to DPLA and the next."
    }
  ]
}

Tools

Reported by the attributed source; not independently observed by Koskamo.

No tool definitions available.

Connect from your client

Each snippet configures the same source-provided package; replace placeholders before use.

This server is operated by the named third party. Listing and endpoint checks are not an endorsement or a security audit. Review the operator's permissions, terms, and data handling before connecting. How listings are checked and corrected.

Cursor

Merge this local stdio configuration, replace every placeholder environment value, and restart Cursor. Koskamo has not executed this package.

Cursor configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dpla-catalog-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "dpla-catalog-mcp==0.1.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DPLA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_DPLA_API_KEY>",
        "DPLA_CACHE_DIR": "<YOUR_DPLA_CACHE_DIR>",
        "DPLA_TIMEOUT": "<YOUR_DPLA_TIMEOUT>",
        "DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL": "<YOUR_DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline

Merge this local stdio configuration, replace every placeholder environment value, and restart Cline. Koskamo has not executed this package.

Cline configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dpla-catalog-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "dpla-catalog-mcp==0.1.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DPLA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_DPLA_API_KEY>",
        "DPLA_CACHE_DIR": "<YOUR_DPLA_CACHE_DIR>",
        "DPLA_TIMEOUT": "<YOUR_DPLA_TIMEOUT>",
        "DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL": "<YOUR_DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Merge this local stdio configuration, replace every placeholder environment value, and restart VS Code. Koskamo has not executed this package.

VS Code configuration

{
  "servers": {
    "dpla-catalog-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "dpla-catalog-mcp==0.1.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DPLA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_DPLA_API_KEY>",
        "DPLA_CACHE_DIR": "<YOUR_DPLA_CACHE_DIR>",
        "DPLA_TIMEOUT": "<YOUR_DPLA_TIMEOUT>",
        "DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL": "<YOUR_DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Merge this local stdio configuration, replace every placeholder environment value, and restart Claude Desktop. Koskamo has not executed this package.

Claude Desktop configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dpla-catalog-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "dpla-catalog-mcp==0.1.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DPLA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_DPLA_API_KEY>",
        "DPLA_CACHE_DIR": "<YOUR_DPLA_CACHE_DIR>",
        "DPLA_TIMEOUT": "<YOUR_DPLA_TIMEOUT>",
        "DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL": "<YOUR_DPLA_MIN_INTERVAL>"
      }
    }
  }
}

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